Keynote Speakers: Richard Kessler, Dean, Mannes College, The New School of Music; Ayanna Hudson, Arts Education Director, National Endowment for the Arts; and Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York.

Moderator: David A. Dik, National Executive Director, Young Audiences, Inc.

1A. More Than the Sum of its Parts: “Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education” (Riverside Suite)

Ken Cole, Associate Director, National Guild for Community Arts Education and Gigi Antoni, President and CEO, Big Thought.

All children have a right to quality arts instruction that provides pathways to lifelong engagement in the arts. No single organization can reach all children, so collaboration is the key. Inspired by a new book, More Than the Sum of its Parts: Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education this session offers ideas on how to increase access to, multiply the benefits of, and sustain quality arts education through large-scale collaborations that tie arts instruction to other civic priorities while keeping kids and creative learning at the center.

2A. Grants for Arts Education Projects (Park Suite)

Ayanna Hudson, Director of Arts Education at the National Endowment for the Arts, will present information about the NEA’s Arts Education funding category, how to apply to the NEA, and advice on preparing a strong application.

The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to providing leadership in arts education and to enhancing the quality of and access to arts education for our nation’s young people. Youth receive a full education when the arts are studied and practiced as a core academic subject. Arts education plays a pivotal role in helping youth to develop skills necessary for the 21st century workforce--creativity, collaboration and communication, as well as helping the nation improve high school graduation rates, counter the achievement gap in urban and rural communities, and respond to innovations in technology that may transform how and what young people learn.

3A. The Common Core and the Arts:Connections Between The Common Core Standards and the Next Generation Arts Standards (Fashion Suite)

This session offers an introduction to the first comprehensive review of the relationship between arts teaching and learning and the goals of the Common Core, as examined in a recent College Board study. Given the central role that the Common Core standards are playing in education and school reform initiatives, it is a priority that future arts standards relate clearly to the Common Core. In addition to being a resource for the creation of the standards, this research is also meant to serve as a tool for arts educators to allow them to align their work with Common Core goals and objectives.

How do we transform teaching practice to ensure all children are given the best circumstances for learning? Learn how YAMD and a school district partner developed the SMART program, an innovative professional development program for Title 1 schools. Teachers and teaching artists partner together to co-plan, co-teach, reflect and revise their arts integrated plans. Share data and best practices gained from the SMART Program. Early results show the program contributes to the increase in student test scores. School administrators and district leadership credit the program for increasing student achievement, student attendance, decreasing office referrals and building positive school climate.

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Refreshment Break

2:45 pm - 3:45 pm

Breakout Sessions - B (2nd floor except where otherwise indicated)

1B. More Than the Sum of its Parts: “Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education” (Riverside Suite)

Ken Cole, Associate Director, National Guild for Community Arts Education and Gigi Antoni, President and CEO, Big Thought.

All children have a right to quality arts instruction that provides pathways to lifelong engagement in the arts. No single organization can reach all children, so collaboration is the key. Inspired by a new book, More Than the Sum of its Parts: Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education this session offers ideas on how to increase access to, multiply the benefits of, and sustain quality arts education through large-scale collaborations that tie arts instruction to other civic priorities while keeping kids and creative learning at the center.

2B. The Common Core and the Arts:Connections Between The Common Core Standards and the Next Generation Arts Standards (Fashion Suite)

This session offers an introduction to the first comprehensive review of the relationship between arts teaching and learning and the goals of the Common Core, as examined in a recent College Board study. Given the central role that the Common Core standards are playing in education and school reform initiatives, it is a priority that future arts standards relate clearly to the Common Core. In addition to being a resource for the creation of the standards, this research is also meant to serve as a tool for arts educators to allow them to align their work with Common Core goals and objectives.

How do we transform teaching practice to ensure all children are given the best circumstances for learning? Learn how YAMD and a school district partner developed the SMART program, an innovative professional development program for Title 1 schools. Teachers and teaching artists partner together to co-plan, co-teach, reflect and revise their arts integrated plans. Share data and best practices gained from the SMART Program. Early results show the program contributes to the increase in student test scores. School administrators and district leadership credit the program for increasing student achievement, student attendance, decreasing office referrals and building positive school climate.

4B. Partnerships That Matter: Five Steps to Common Goals for Success & Sustainability (Americas Suite)

“Collaboration” is more than a feel good buzz word. It is the pathway to meaningful professional relationships and it holds the key to significant change working with classroom teachers. Participants will work individually and in small groups using the 5 Step Collaboration Template. They will use their local goals and circumstances to create a plan for collaborating with teachers that includes an initial strategy statement and a timeline for implementation.

5B. Models for Collaboration & Assessment: Uniting Music Throughout All Disciplines (Park Suite)

Kyna Elliott, Kyna Elliott, Director of the International Institute of Musical Studies, London; Orchestra Director and Coordinator for the German American Partnership Program Manatee County, FL.

This session will focus on how to unite music with other disciplines both within the arts and with academic teachers in the school and providing a variety of assessment tools, which can be used to develop a set of guidelines for clearly assessing students’ performance as well as provide a written form of accountability.

Learn about the arts impact on persons with different abilities. Following a short welcome and snack, participants will learn from Arts For Learning CT teaching artists, educators and presenters from the CT Mental Health Foundation and CT National Association of Mental Illness about arts impact on the elderly and persons with different abilities. During lunch you will hear about VSA opportunities and will experience the music of our VSA National Soloist Awardee. After lunch choose two workshops from the following: Creative Aging Weaving Project, Using Theatre with Aging Populations, Differing Abilities Visual Art Project and Application of Universal Design for Learning. The day will culminate with a CT wine and cheese reception.

Explore levels of engagement and alignment of mission and goals that moves an organization from a simple recipient of grants to being considered a critical partner. Gain insight into how YANJ & EAPA strategic alliances resulted in several unique programs: The Dodge Dance Initiative, a sequential dance curriculum; the NRGCreatively Green Family Arts Festival which focuses on the intersection of art, sustainability and community; and Emerging Artist Creativity Hub (EACH), a creative laboratory for emerging student artists in partnership with a university.Download the site visit schedule.

Young Audiences New York - Abundance in a Time of Scarcity:

Urban Arts Education, New York, NY

Observe and experience YANY’s crusade to connect city kids with the cultural riches of NYC. Participants will convene YANY office at 1 E. 53rd, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, for a buffet breakfast (8:00-8:45) and then join one of three field trips to see a YANY elementary, middle and/or high school programs. Later participants will reconvene at the Sony Atrium (550 Madison Ave. @ 56th St.) for networking and lunch followed by a panel discussion on arts education programs and funding. Invited panelists will represent the role of government, innovative funding, learning, technology and cutting edge live arts programs.

Evening (Free)

A night on the Town: Restaurant discounts and suggestions

6:30-8:00 pm - Optional – An invitation from Young Audiences New York. Attendees are invited to the High School of Hospitality Management for a celebration of The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life 2.0 program. 5:30 pm - Reception. The School of Hospitality Management, 525 West 50th St. between 10th and 11th Avenues.

This hands-on workshop, following CAPE’s professional development model, will engage participants in collaborative art making. Participants explore how CAPE partners scaffold integration of content area and arts practice and experience generative processes, which expand collaborative roles. Participants will learn ways to nurture authentic collaboration.

2C. Creative Collaborations Across Regional and National Networks (Fashion Suite)

Ploi Pagdalian, Senior Director of Programs, Young Audiences of Indiana; Roscoe Reddix, Director of Arts Integration, Young Audiences of Louisiana; Maureen Heffernan, Director of Arts and Education, Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania; and Betsy Mullins-Urwin, Artist Services Director, Arts for Learning/Miami.

This session offers forum for sharing and planning to strengthen and develop both a philosophy and practice of collaboration across regional and national networks. Ploi Pagdalian, Roscoe Reddix and Maureen Heffernan share experiences on how participating in the YAI Working Group impacted them personally and professionally and marked the beginning of a new era of collaboration with our colleagues. Videos, photos and written works will be used to illustrate our collaborations followed by group discussion to explore opportunities for new collaborations.

Learn now to enliven classroom learning with the arts and game design. This sessions tells the story of how the NEA/YA Immersive Game Design Residency unfolded in three disparate communities; gain tips for partnering with school districts, strategies for developing and marketing STEM programming and get ideas for enhancing your impact in any classroom from technology to language arts.

4C. The Living Library Experience: Using Interactive Educational Theatre to Meet the Demands of the Common Core Standards (Americas Suite)

Piper Anderson, Literature to Life Program Manager, American Place Theatre/Young Audiences New York and Gwen Brownson, Director of National Education Programs, American Place Theatre/Young Audiences New York

The Literature to Life Living Library is an interactive theatre workshop focused on a new American literary classic. Living Libraries seek to meet Common Core Standards by challenging students to engage with and analyze complex literary works through the use of educational drama techniques. In this workshop, attendees will experience and interact with characters from our Living Library, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. After analyzing the educational drama techniques utilized in each Living Library, attendees will apply those same techniques to meet their own curricular goals.

5C. Most At Risk: Working with Youth at Risk of Educational and Societal Failure (Park Suite)

This workshop begins with a spoken word performance based on experiences working in the Erie County Youth Detention Center by lead artist, Annette Daniels Taylor. Then in an interactive session, Young Audiences of Western New York’s education staff shares best practices for working with youth most at risk of educational failure. Topics of discussion include: developing contracts with Erie County departments, working with itinerant populations, and differentiated learning techniques.

This hands-on workshop, following CAPE’s professional development model, will engage participants in collaborative art making. Participants explore how CAPE partners scaffold integration of content area and arts practice and experience generative processes, which expand collaborative roles. Participants will learn ways to nurture authentic collaboration.

2D. Creative Collaborations Across Regional and National Networks (Fashion Suite)

Ploi Pagdalian, Senior Director of Programs, Young Audiences of Indiana; Roscoe Reddix, Director of Arts Integration, Young Audiences of Louisiana; Maureen Heffernan, Director of Arts and Education, Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania; and Betsy Mullins-Urwin, Artist Services Director, Arts for Learning/Miami.

This session offers forum for sharing and planning to strengthen and develop both a philosophy and practice of collaboration across regional and national networks. Ploi Pagdalian, Roscoe Reddix and Maureen Heffernan share experiences on how participating in the YAI Working Group impacted them personally and professionally and marked the beginning of a new era of collaboration with our colleagues. Videos, photos and written works will be used to illustrate our collaborations followed by group discussion to explore opportunities for new collaborations.

Learn now to enliven classroom learning with the arts and game design. This sessions tells the story of how the NEA/YA Immersive Game Design Residency unfolded in three disparate communities; gain tips for partnering with school districts, strategies for developing and marketing STEM programming and get ideas for enhancing your impact in any classroom from technology to language arts.

4D. Creating Authentic Assessments

Michelle L. Margliano, Teaching Artist, Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania and Adam Nicolai, Arts Education Program Associate, Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.

This workshop on authentic assessment will examine the theory, development and implementation of assessment and documentation tools to determine the impact of the four elements in a long-term residency. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from an independent evaluator who designed the tools, learn techniques for facilitating participant interviews, as well as experiment with survey assessment tools.

Peter Gerber and Jan Norman, Young Audiences Arts for Learning/Arts4Learning

Moderator: David A. Dik, Executive Director, Young Audiences, Inc.

This workshop will provide information and updates on two arts-related programs supported by the US Department of Education i3 (Investing in Innovation) Fund. Participating will have an opportunity to hear about the curriculum, teaching and research findings of both programs and next steps as the collective research bears out interesting and unexpected results.

12:15 pm - Lunch and2014 Conference Invitation from Young Audiences of San Diego. Wrap Up by Jane Polin, Philanthropic Advisor.